Method and system for call to role

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for routing incoming customer service requests directly to the most appropriate destination within a call center without requiring customer knowledge of a specific telephone number or extension to call and without requiring the customer to select from a series of menus. The receiving location or inbound call center accepts a voice call from a customer. The incoming voice call includes an associated data stream. This data stream is processed by the inbound call center and is used to route the call to the appropriate destination or customer service representative, for example a specific person, a department, a subsidiary, an individual either working within a facility or working outside the facility, a subcontractor and combinations thereof. Additional functionality is provided by including additional data, e.g. data in addition to routing data, along with voice data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/145,429, filed Jun. 24, 2008, which is acontinuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/153,670, filedJun. 15, 2005. The entire disclosures of those applications areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to the field of computer networks.More specifically, the present invention is directed to computertelephony, in particular processing inbound call to call center.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various businesses handle a large volume of phone calls from clients orcustomers. To facilitate the processing of this large volume of phonecalls, many businesses utilize technologies such as call centers andautomated call routing equipment. In general, each call center containsthe equipment and personnel necessary to manage and to process a largevolume of inbound or outbound calls. Inbound call centers providesupport for incoming sales and for customer service requests. Forexample, inbound call centers receive calls from customers looking toobtain information about the goods or services that a company sells, topurchase those goods or services, to manage their accounts and to obtainassistance. The same arrangement of equipment in a given call center,however, can be used as either an inbound call center or an outboundcall center.

The problems associated with call routing inbound calls increase as thecustomer service functions are divided and distributed among anincreasing number of departments and representatives. Therefore,customers experience increasing difficulty in identifying the correctcustomer service group—by having to locate a telephone number associatedwith that group, for example. The difficulty in identifying the properservice group includes identifying the department providing a particularservice, e.g. the Radiology Department at the local hospital, oridentifying the person that is on duty or that is currently performing aparticular function, e.g. the consultant on duty, the officer of theday, the acting manager or the pediatrician on call.

Inbound call centers typically contain an automatic call distributor(ACD) to handle incoming calls and to provide the desired routing. Forexample, the ACD connects calls to a sales representative, a customerservice representative or a help desk operator, among others. The ACDalso facilitates automated routing of incoming calls to prompt thecaller to select one or more menu choices and to place calls that cannotbe answered immediately into a hold queue until the next appropriateagent becomes available. The hold queue provides the caller with music,advertising or periodic barge-in messages updating the caller on thecurrent queue status. Reponses to the menu choices facilitate routing ofthe call through the call center in the most appropriate way.

The routing and queuing provided by the ACD was historically handled bya live human operator. For example, a customer would call a customerservice number and would be connected with the live operator. The callerwould describe the nature of the issue or service desired, for exampleby saying, “I have a question about my bill,” or “The item I orderedhasn't arrived yet.” The live operator would determine the customer'sneeds, route the call accordingly and provide verbal assurance to thecustomer that the call is being handled by providing responses such as,“You need to speak with our sales department. One moment, please, whileI connect you.”

The use of ACD has provided companies with a more efficient method ofhandling and distributing incoming customer requests, particularly asthe number of these requests grows. In general, ACD systems promptcallers through a multitude of levels of menus. Customer input isprovided by selecting numbers, letters and symbols on the customerpremises equipment (CPE) in response to recorded prompts from the ACD.Examples of these prompts include “Press 1 for new orders, press 2 tocheck on the status of an existing order, press 3 for additionaloptions, press the pound sign to repeat these options.” These automatedsystems often require callers to pass through several levels of menuselections, listening to all options and figuring out which one bestapplies. As the number of options increases, it is increasinglydifficult for a customer to keep track of the various options. If acustomer progresses through many levels and is inadvertentlydisconnected, that customer must reconnect and step through all of themenus again. In addition, callers are often not presented with anyoptions for speaking directly with a live operator.

Recent technological advances provide for the use of voice recognitionsystems to facilitate customer routing and menu selection. Thesesystems, however, do not eliminate the need to progress through variousmenus levels. In addition, voice recognition systems provide additionalproblems including an inability to understand all spoken responses. Withthese limitations, ACD's can create a customer service interface that isslow and frustrating and that produces a negative response in customers,which is not a desired reaction for purposes of customer service.

Therefore, a need exists for systems and methods that provide forautomated and efficient routing of incoming customer service requests tocall centers in a more customer-friendly environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to systems and methods that routeincoming customer service requests directly to the most appropriatedestination without requiring customer knowledge of a specific telephonenumber or extension to call and without requiring the customer to selectfrom a series of menus or menu prompts. Exemplary systems and methodsused in accordance with the present invention provide for automated callrouting in accordance with processing criteria that are defined andtransmitted independent of an actual customer service call.

In accordance with one embodiment, the receiving location or inboundcall center receives processing or routing criteria from a customer thatidentifies the services that the customer needs from the inbound callcenter. When that customer initiates an incoming audio communication,e.g. a voice call, the audio communication data are associated with theprocessing criteria that was previously received at the call center, andthe audio communication is routed in accordance with the associatedprocessing criteria. The audio communication is routed to theappropriate destination or customer service representative, for examplea specific person, a department, a subsidiary, an individual eitherworking within a facility or working outside the facility, asubcontractor and combinations thereof. Since the service or functiondesired by the customer placing the incoming call is referred to as a“role”, i.e. the role that the customer wants the inbound call center toperform, systems and methods in accordance with the present inventionare viewed as allowing a customer or caller to “call to role”, placing avoice call and having that call associated with the transmitted datastream that specifies the role desired. The processing criteriaidentifying this role are transmitted in the data stream. Additionalfunctionality is provided by including additional data, e.g. data inaddition to roles, to a call center in the processing criteria. The datastream may be transmitted independently, or in conjunction with thevoice stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a system for providingincoming voice calls and associated role data in accordance with thepresent invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flow illustrating an embodiment of a method for routingincoming calls in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a system 10 for use in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present invention is illustrated. Asillustrated, the system 10 includes one or more callers 12 or customersand a company or call center 14. The callers 12 contact the call centerthrough the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 16 using, forexample, conventional wireline phones 18, smart phones 17, cellularphones 20 or wireless phones 19 as the customer premises equipment(CPE). As used herein, smart phones are generally handheld devices thatprovide for the transmission of text data and voice data in the samedevice. The ability to send and receive text data provides the smartphone with added functionalities including, but not limited to, theability to send or receive electronic mail, the ability to conductinstant messaging (IM) sessions, the ability to view internet pages orweb sites and the ability to serve as a personal digital assistant(PDA). The callers 12 also contact the call center 14 through theinternet 22 using voice over internet protocol (VoIP) enabled phones 24,PDA's 27 or multimedia computer systems 26, including desktop systemsand laptop systems as the CPE. The system 10 also includes an internetprotocol (IP) PSTN gateway 28 as an interface between the PSTN 16 andthe internet 22. Phone calls initiated in the PSTN can be routed throughthe internet to the call center or can be routed directly through thePSTN to an automatic call distributor (ACD) 36 located in the callcenter 14.

The call center 14 includes a plurality of agents, operators,specialists, support staff or customer service representatives, referredto generally as customer service representatives or agents 30. Eachcustomer service representative 30 is provided with equipment to handleboth the audio portion of an audio communication session or telephonecall and the inputting and display of data related to the audiocommunication. As illustrated, each agent 30 includes a telephone 32 anda computer 34. Although illustrated as separate equipment, the functionsof the telephone 32 and computer 34 can be combined into a single pieceof equipment. The agents 30 within the call center 14 can be located ata single geographical location or can be located at two or more distinctphysical locations. The location and arrangement of the agents 30 aretransparent to the callers 12.

The call center 14 includes the ACD 36 to handle and to route theincoming calls through the call center 14. In one embodiment, the callcenter 14 also includes a private branch exchange (PBX) 38 through whichthe ACD 36 lines can be routed to provide general carrier interfacesupport for the call center 14. Although illustrated as two distinctpieces of equipment, a combined ACD/PBX can also be used. Directinterface with the PSTN 16 is provided by the ACD 36. Interface with theinternet is provided through a web server 40. One or more databases 42are provided to store information needed by the agents including, butnot limited to, technical support information, customer information,parts lists and price lists. Each database 42 can also include thecomputer-executable code for running methods in accordance with thepresent invention. Agents 30, the ACD 36, the PBX 38, the web server 40and the database 42 are in communication across one or more networks 44.Suitable networks 44 include local area networks such as Ethernetnetworks, wide area networks, secure local and wide area networks,secure wireless networks, enterprise-wide networks, storage areanetworks, virtual private networks, secure virtual private networks,internet area networks, internet secure networks, personal areanetworks, and combinations thereof. The telephones 32 located at eachagent 30 can be in direct communication with the network 44 or can be incommunication with the network 44 through the computer 34.

Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary embodiment of a method 200 forreceiving and processing audio communications, for example telephonecalls, in accordance with the present invention, is illustrated. Inorder to provide for the routing of incoming calls in accordance withthe desired customer service, process criteria to be applied to an audiocommunication between an initiating entity and a receiving entity areidentified 206. These processing criteria are an expression of theservices or roles requested from the receiving entity as well as anidentification of the initiating entity and may include but are notlimited to customer name, address, phone number, birth date, socialsecurity number, customer number, department name, product name, anidentification of the service to be performed by the receiving entity,role name, audio communication routing data, security data,authentication data and combinations thereof. Suitable methods foridentifying the process criteria include entering user-defined processcriteria at the initiating entity. In another embodiment, the processingcriteria are defined by selecting at least one processing criterion froma pre-determined list containing a plurality of processing criteria. Thepre-determined list containing the processing criteria can be maintained(e.g. by adding new criteria, removing old criteria and modifyingexisting criteria) by either the initiating entity or the receivingentity. Preferably, the pre-determined list is maintained by thereceiving entity.

In one embodiment, the processing criteria are entered or selected bythe initiating entity using the input functionality of the equipment ordevice used to initiate the audio communication. For example, if theinitiating entity is using a telephone, then the processing criteria areentered as an alpha-numeric string using the keys on the telephone.Alternatively, the processing criteria are entered or selected by theinitiating entity using a device that is separate from and independentof any device used to establish the an audio communication. As shown inFIG. 1, a single location 27 can include a wireline phone 18 connectedto the PSTN for initiating a telephone call and a separate computer 26networked to the internet to identify the desired processing criteria.

Any suitable language or syntax that is capable of being read andunderstood by the receiving entity can be used to identify or constructthe processing criteria. Examples of suitable languages include, but arenot limited to extensible markup language (XML), computer-readable code,binary code, abbreviations, natural languages, icons, audio signalsincluding Morse code, coded language using, for example, public keyinfrastructure (PKI), digital signals and combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, processing criteria are identified and entered at theinitiating entity as specific keywords, requiring minimal processing atthe receiving entity. Alternatively, the processing criteria arefree-form, requiring more analysis and processing at the receivingentity.

In one embodiment, the processing criteria are processed as keywords. Ifthe keywords are known to the processing system, for example, if thekeywords have been selected from a list provided by the receivingentity, processing constitutes a simple database lookup. If one or morekeywords are not known, language-based analysis is applied to relate theunknown keywords to known ones. For example, the unknown keywords“account” and “pay” are mapped to the known keyword “billing”.

Alternatively, the processing criteria are processed as free-form text.In one embodiment, language-based analysis is used to process thefree-form text. Language based analysis includes identifying keywords ina natural-language sentence or phrase. In the sentence “I have aquestion about my bill”, the keywords “question” and “bill” areidentified, and the call is routed to the billing department. In thesentence “The item I ordered hasn't arrived yet”, the key words“ordered” and “arrived” are identified, and the call is routed to theshipping department.

Having identified the processing criteria, these processing criteria aretransmitted 210 to the receiving entity for evaluation and processing ofthe audio communication in accordance with the processing criteria.Although the processing criteria can be transmitted to the receivingentity substantially concurrently with the establishment of an audiocommunication, preferably the processing criteria are transmitted to thereceiving entity independent of the establishment of the audiocommunication and in advance of the establishment of the audiocommunication. As with identifying the processing criteria, theprocessing criteria can be transmitted to the receiving entity using asingle device that is capable of both transmitting the processingcriteria and establishing the audio communication or using separatedevices for transmitting the processing criteria and establishing theaudio communication.

Having identified and transmitted the desired processing criteria, anaudio communication is established 205 between an initiating entity anda receiving entity. Any type of audio communication capable of providingat least one-way and preferably two-way exchanges of audio communicationdata between two or more entities can be used. Suitable audiocommunications include synchronous communications, telephonecommunications including wireline, wireless, cellular, satellite,analogue, digital or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) based telephonecommunications and combinations thereof. Other suitable audiocommunications include two-way radio communications and teleconferencingsystems including web-based teleconferencing systems. The audiocommunication can be established across any suitable network orcombinations of networks including a public switched telephone network(PSTN), local area networks and wide area networks such as the Internetor World Wide Web. In one embodiment, the audio communication is atelephone call using a PSTN. In another embodiment, the audiocommunication is a VoIP call using the internet. Suitable controlprotocols for the VoIP audio communication include session initiationprotocol (SIP).

Suitable initiating entities include automated entities and live personsor participants that are capable of initiating the audio communication.These initiating entities include, but are not limited to callers,customers, program participants, buyers, students, patients andcombinations thereof. In general, the initiating entity initiates orestablishes the audio communication for the purpose of obtaining thedesired goods or services from the receiving entity. Although suitablereceiving entities include the same types of entities as the initiatingentity, typically the receiving entity is a business or institution thatprovides goods or services. Examples of receiving entities in particularinclude, but are not limited to, a company selling products, auniversity providing web-based courses and a government agency providinginformation to the public.

In one embodiment, each receiving entity includes a plurality ofdestinations or termination points for the inbound audio communication.These termination points include, but are not limited to, sales,customer service, technical support, registrar, automated support, videoconferencing, physician on call, pediatrics, emergency room and accountmanagement. In one embodiment, the receiving entity is a call centercontaining a plurality of destinations. Although typically associatedwith companies, the concept of a call center can be applied to anycollection of destinations including universities, hospitals andgovernment agencies. In addition, the interface or rendering required atthe receiving entity for interaction with the initiating entity,including display interfaces, varies with the source, transmission modeand equipment used by the initiating entity. Moreover, additional orancillary handling may be requested or required by the initiating partyincluding translation services and security functions includingauthorization and authentication.

Various arrangements of identifying the processing criteria,transmitting the processing criteria and establishing the audiocommunication are defined by the types of equipment and protocols usedto execute these tasks. In one embodiment, the audio communication is avoice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone call or audiocommunication. This audio communication is established using aVoIP-enabled device in communication with the internet. In oneembodiment the device, for example a laptop computer, a PDA, a cameraphone, a smart phone or a game console, establishes an audiocommunication over a wired or wireless network, and the device storeslogical data. These logical data include, but are not limited to,additional personal information, device-specific information andsubscriber-specific data. These logical data are transmitted with thecommunication and the processing criteria information to aid or toenhance the audio communication. In one embodiment the logical data areused in a call center for purposes of handling the call includingproviding for routing, presentation on the receiving end, and furtherprocessing to route the call to subsequent handling.

The desired processing criteria are identified using the networkeddevice, for example in a web-based environment. Therefore, theoriginating entity can browse or surf the internet and visit a websiteassociated with the receiving entity. Using combinations of hyperlinks,pop-up menus, screens and questionnaires, the desired services areidentified and transmitted to the receiving entity. The identificationof the processing criteria includes expressing these criteria as anextensible mark-up language (XML) document that is transmitted usingsuitable protocols. In one embodiment, the suitable protocols includethe protocols for the VoIP communication. The use of XML allows robusttagging and structured data. In one embodiment, the processing criteriaare transmitted using session initiation protocol (SIP). Suitablemethods for forwarding data with VoIP communications are disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/031,927, filed Jan. 8, 2005, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In one embodiment, a first device, for example a computer or PDA, isused to view pages of a web-site associated with the receiving entity orbusiness offering the desired services or goods. Within this web-basedenvironment, the first device is used to identify processing criteria,for example the customer's telephone number or the department needed,e.g. accounting, using the web-site's available graphical interfacetools. Once identified, the processing criteria are transmitted to thereceiving entity across one or more networks. In one embodiment, theprocessing criteria are transmitted using a pop-up screen in a web-basedenvironment. In response, the receiving entity forwards a telephonenumber to the originating entity through the web interface, Theoriginating entity uses a second device, separate from the first device,to establish the audio communication between the initiating entity andthe receiving entity. In one embodiment, the audio communication isestablished over the PSTN using CPE such as a conventional telephone asthe second device. The forwarded telephone number is used to establishthe audio communication. Using the forwarded telephone number providesassociation between the processing criteria and the audio communication.In another embodiment, upon receipt of the processing criteria, thereceiving entity forwards a destination identifier, e.g. an IP address,to the initiating entity. The initiating entity then places an audiocall to the destination identifier, e.g. using VoIP.

In one embodiment, a single device is used to identify and to transmitthe processing criteria and to establish the audio communication. In oneembodiment, the single device comprises a conventional PSTN phone. Thekeypad on the phone is used to select and transmit alpha-numericdesignations of the processing criteria to the receiving entity. Thephone is then used to establish the actual audio communication.

In another embodiment, the single device is a smart phone. The texttransmitting and receiving functionality of the smart phone is used toidentify and transmit the processing criteria, and the telephonefunctionality is used to establish the audio communication. In onepreferred embodiment, the smart phone transmits technical specificationdata about the smart phone with the processing criteria when a call isplaced to the service provider. Smart phones offer a vast array ofservices and customized downloadable data. This dynamic data, forexample the type of service, the type of software on the phone, the typeof phone and the identification of any additional software on the phone,is used by the receiving entity or service center to offer new servicesor to provide updates and patches for services on the smart phone. Theability of the smart phone to have new technologies downloaded makeseach smart phone potentially different, and service providers are ableto obtain this customized and dynamic information while talking to thesmart phone user at the time of the service call.

In one embodiment, a heightened level of security is provided to thesmart phone during a call. For example, the smart phone sends a key thatis used in conjunction with a voice question posed by the receivingentity to provide a multi-layered security system. This embodimentfacilitates multiple security queries, with the result of local actionprovided to the remote security authority to be used as part of anauthentication or authorization. Since the smart phone providesadditional security key information, a voice question can be posed thatrequires a different response for each authorization. Hence, securitywould not be compromised if the phone is lost or stolen.

Upon establishing the audio communication between the initiating entityand the receiving entity, the previously transmitted routing criteriaare associated with the audio communication 220 (FIG. 2). Association ofthe processing criteria to the correct audio communication is performedat the receiving entity. The processing criteria include a sufficientamount of data or information to provide for the routing and renderingof the audio communication and to provide any ancillary functionsassociated with the audio communication. The processing criteria areassociated with the subsequent telephone call using the calling phonenumber, the data channel used to make the call or other means suitableto the device and network capabilities. In one embodiment, associationbetween the processing criteria and the audio communication isfacilitated by including an identification tag in the transmittedprocessing criteria. Suitable identification tags include a phone numberor uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the initiating entity.The identification tag is used to associate the processing criteria withthe audio communication, for example using information provided bytypical web browsers or caller identification systems.

Having established the audio communication and associated the desiredprocessing criteria with that audio communication, the audiocommunication is processed in accordance with the associated processingcriteria 225. In general, processing involves evaluating and executingthe processing criteria. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a determination isfirst made about whether or not the processing criteria containinformation or data concerning the routing of the audio communication toone or more destinations within the receiving entity 230. If routingdata exist, then the audio communication is routed accordingly 240. Forexample, the processing criteria can include an identification of adestination within the receiving entity, and the audio communication isrouted to the identified destination.

If the processing criteria do not include routing data, then theprocessing criteria are evaluated for data related to the rendering ofthe audio communication at the receiving party 250. If rendering dataare present, the audio communication is rendered accordingly 270. If norendering data are present, then any additional processing criteria areexecuted including security functions 260.

If the receiving party is unable to process one or more of the criteria,the audio communication is processed in accordance with predetermineddefault criteria. For example, if no routing or role information isprovided, if the routing information is inaccurate or if the routinginformation has been corrupted, then the audio communication is routedto a default location, for example a live operator or a typical promptmenu.

Various exemplary embodiments in accordance with the present inventionare possible depending on the type of equipment and audio communicationsused. In general, the system used with exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention can be divided into three subsystems—an end-usersubsystem, a transmission subsystem and a processing subsystem. In oneembodiment, a method in accordance with the present invention is used toroute an inbound telephone call through a call center. The telephonecall is initiated between the caller and the call center, and routingcriteria for the telephone call are transmitted from the caller to thecall center. In one embodiment, the routing criteria are transmitted byforwarding alpha-numeric designations indicative of the desired routingusing equipment disposed at the caller. Alternately, the routingcriteria are transmitted independent of the call and are associated withthe telephone call at the call center. The telephone call is then routedthrough the call center in accordance with the routing criteria. In oneembodiment, the routing criteria include an identification of at leastone destination within the call center, an identification of a role tobe performed by the call center and combinations thereof. The routingcriteria can be selected from a pre-determined list of routing criteriamaintained, for example, by the call center.

In one embodiment, the telephone call is a VoIP based telephone call,and the step of transmitting the routing criteria includes transmittingthe routing criteria in an XML document attached to control data callsin the protocol language used for the VoIP telephone call.

In one exemplary embodiment, the initiating entity is a user with asession initiation protocol (SIP) based phone. The user dials a numberand keys in an alpha-numeric designation of the role desired from thereceiving entity. The text of the alpha-numeric designation is sent astagged data to the receiving entity. The SIP-based phone establishes anaudio communication with the receiving entity. The receiving entityreceives both the voice call and the data, and uses the data to routethe call in accordance with the desired role. In one embodiment, thereceiving entity receives both the voice call and the data and uses thedata to route the call at substantially the same time.

In one embodiment, a web browser sends the processing criteria to thereceiving entity, and a caller-ID feature at the receiving entityassociates the processing criteria with an incoming call placed within aspecified period of time. In one embodiment, a cellular phone is used toenter the phone number and, through use of the telephone keypad or amini-keyboard, to enter keywords indicating the role for which the callis being made. A cellular phone or a fully-featured desktop phone allowsthe initiating entity to enter the number to be called or to select thenumber from a pre-programmed directory, either public or private, andthen to select one more roles from a pre-determined list of roles. Inone embodiment, the list of roles is generic and can be applied to anycalled number. Alternatively, each list of roles istelephone-number-specific and is stored in the directory entry with theassociated phone number.

When a telephone number and list are picked from a public directory, theentity being called maintains the list of roles, allowing the receivingentity to change the list easily and to maintain a single contacttelephone number regardless of routing changes internal to the receivingentity call center. Internal routing changes are transparent to thecaller. A caller that records separate phone numbers or extensions for“billing” and “shipping” keeps an up-to-date personal directory tohandle that. If the caller keeps a single phone number in the personaldirectory, along with role keywords “billing” and “shipping”, then anychanges on the receiving side remain strictly on the receiving side anddo not affect callers.

The present invention is also directed to a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium containing a machine-executable orcomputer-executable code that when read by a machine or computer causesthe machine or computer to perform a method for routing inbound audiocommunications in accordance with priority criteria transmitted to theentity receiving the audio communication in accordance with exemplaryembodiments of the present invention and to the computer-executable codeitself. The machine-readable or computer-readable code can be any typeof code or language capable of being read and executed by the machine orcomputer and can be expressed in any suitable language or syntax knownand available in the art including machine languages, assemblerlanguages, higher level languages, object oriented languages andscripting languages. The computer-executable code can be stored on anysuitable storage medium or database, including databases disposedwithin, in communication with and accessible by computer networksutilized by systems in accordance with the present invention and can beexecuted on any suitable hardware platform as are known and available inthe art.

While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the inventiondisclosed herein fulfill the objectives of the present invention, it isappreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may bedevised by those skilled in the art. Additionally, feature(s) and/orelement(s) from any embodiment may be used singly or in combination withother embodiment(s) and steps or elements from methods in accordancewith the present invention can be executed or performed in any suitableorder. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims areintended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which wouldcome within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for routing an inbound telephone call through a call center, the method comprising: entering a natural language phrase by a caller by typing the natural language phrase using a web-based computing environment; identifying known keywords in the natural language phrase, the known keywords associated with routing criteria for routing inbound telephone call through the calls center; identifying unknown keywords in the natural language phrase; mapping the identified unknown keywords to known keywords; transmitting the routing criteria associated with the identified known keywords and the keywords to which the unknown keywords are mapped from the caller to a call center independent of the inbound telephone call; forwarding a unique telephone number from the call center to the caller in response to the transmitted routing criteria; initiating the inbound telephone call between the caller and the call center using the unique telephone number; associating the transmitted routing criteria with the initiated inbound telephone call; and routing the inbound telephone call through the call center in accordance with the routing criteria.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the routing criteria comprises forwarding alpha-numeric designations indicative of the routing criteria using equipment disposed at the caller.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing criteria are transmitted to the call center before initiating the inbound telephone call.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying at least one routing criterion from a pre-determined list of routing criteria maintained by the call center and displayed in the web-based computing environment.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing criteria comprise an identification of at least one destination within the call center, an identification of a role to be performed by the call center or combinations thereof.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of initiating the telephone call comprises initiating a voice over internet protocol based telephone call and the step of transmitting the routing criteria comprises transmitting the routing criteria in an extensible markup language document.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising using session initiation protocol to control the telephone call.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein: the method further comprises: entering identifying information associated with the caller; and associating the identifying information with the initiated inbound telephone call. 